ELECTRON R/B

ELECTRON R/B is a spent rocket body associated with United States, launched on 2026-10-23 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, New Zealand on the Hawk 16A/B/C launch. As a relatively recent addition to the catalogue, its orbital elements are well-characterised. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 167 km and 495 km with an inclination of 97.4°. It travels at approximately 27,763 km/h (7.71 km/s), completing one full orbit every 91 minutes — that’s roughly 15.80 orbits per day. Its near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit means it passes over any given point on Earth at approximately the same local solar time, ideal for consistent Earth observation lighting conditions. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is months to ~1 year. Spent rocket bodies like ELECTRON R/B are among the largest pieces of uncontrolled space debris and are priority targets for collision avoidance manoeuvres and future active debris removal efforts.

ELECTRON R/B orbits at an average altitude of 331 km in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), a specialised subset of LEO where the orbital plane precesses to maintain a constant angle relative to the Sun. This provides consistent lighting conditions on every pass — essential for Earth observation, weather monitoring and environmental science. Within ±50 km of ELECTRON R/B’s average altitude, there are currently 1,009 active payloads and 37 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1008, STARLINK-1012, STARLINK-1020. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 5.3% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 97.4°, ELECTRON R/B passes over latitudes between 97.4°N and 97.4°S, providing near-global coverage including the polar regions. Polar and near-polar orbits are used for reconnaissance, weather monitoring and Earth-observation missions that need to image every part of the planet. United States operates approximately 13,286 active satellites in total, of which 955 share a similar altitude band with ELECTRON R/B.